HELENA — Nearly a year and a half after shooting his daughter and injuring her mother, Tony Louis Valez, 66, was sentenced to 100 years at Montana State Prison.
Valez appeared via Zoom on Wednesday in front of Judge Mike Menahan. He was unable to appear in person, as the jail had no portable oxygen tank.
In September, Valez pleaded guilty to one count of deliberate homicide, after shooting at two women who he thought were trying to remove him from a house at 807 Orange Ave. During the shooting, he unintentionally shot and killed his 8-year-old daughter Arianna.
The defense requested 40 years, with the prosecution asking for the maximum sentence of 100 years.
Menahan ruled that no fines or fees would be imposed as a part of Valez's sentence, however, Valez was ordered to pay restitution to the Montana Board of Crime Control as they paid for Arianna’s funeral.
Valez addressed the court and apologized for what happened saying, “I’m sorry for all this. I can’t undo what I’ve done. The pain and the misery will last a lifetime and I’m sorry for that.”
At the time of the shooting, seven people were at the house, with four of them being under the age of 18.
He injured Arianna’s Mother, Heather, and unintentionally hit Arianna in her back as she was trying to run out the back door.
“The day Arianna died, so did a part of my heart. I feel lost, I don’t know what to do. It’s a never-ending nightmare of pain. Night and day it’s this prevailing thought that she died, and I lived,” Heather Valez said.
The 66-year-old will be eligible for parole after serving a quarter of his sentence, which would make him 91 years old.
